Skip to main content
ISMPMI Congress 2025 Main banner
Icon Legend
This session is not in your schedule.
This session is in your schedule. Click again to remove it.

Poster

Session: Session 2 Presenting Authors at Posters (Odds)

P-385 - The fungal endophyte Colletotrichum tofieldiae Ct0861 enhances maize productivity and reduces mycotoxigenic Aspergillus contamination

Wednesday, July 16, 2025
13:30 - 15:15  
Location: Confex Hall 3
Plant microbiota functions and intermicrobial interactions

    Presenting Author(s)

  • SD

    Sandra Díaz-González

    Postdoctoral Researcher
    CBGP (UPM-INIA/CSIC)/UPM
    Pozuelo de Alarcón, Madrid, Spain

    • Author(s)

  • CG

    Carlos González Sanz

    CBGP(UPM-INIA/CSIC)
    Madrid, Madrid, Spain

  • SG

    Sara González-Bodí

    Assistant Proffesor
    CBGP (UPM-INIA/CSIC)/UPM
    Pozuelo de Alarcón, Madrid, Spain

  • PM

    Patricia Marín

    Postdoctoral Researcher
    PlantResponse Biotech SL (until 2020)
    Pozuelo de Alarcón, Madrid, Spain

  • FB

    Frédéric Brunner

    Head of R&D
    PlantResponse Biotech SL (until 2020)
    Pozuelo de Alarcón, Madrid, Spain

  • SS

    Soledad Sacristán

    Associate Professor
    CBGP (UPM-INIA/CSIC)/UPM
    Pozuelo de Alarcón (Madrid), Madrid, Spain

Maize (Zea mays L.) is a globally critical crop that faces numerous challenges, including contamination by mycotoxigenic fungi, which threaten food safety and marketability. The use of bioinoculants, such as fungal endophytes, offers a potential strategy to enhance plant resilience against biotic and abiotic stresses. This study evaluates the fungal endophyte Colletotrichum tofieldiae Ct0861 as bioinoculant for improving maize productivity and its effect on the maize-associated bacterial and fungal microbiomes. Field trials showed that Ct0861 significantly increased biomass and yield regardless of application method (seed coating or foliar spray). Microbiome profiling across soil, rhizosphere, roots, leaves, and grains revealed that Ct0861 inoculation led to subtle compartment-specific shifts in microbial diversity and composition. Notably, Ct0861 significantly reduced the prevalence of Aspergillus spp. in maize grains. Controlled infection assays with A. flavus further confirmed this effect, which also resulted in lower levels of aflatoxin contamination. Ct0861 was not detected in maize grains and dual-culture bioassays showed no direct inhibition of A. flavus growth. These findings suggest that Ct0861’s biocontrol effect is not due to direct competition or antibiosis but rather to indirect mechanisms, such as the activation of plant-induced resistance. These findings underscore Ct0861’s dual benefits in enhancing crop yield and reducing fungal mycotoxin contamination.